NEW DELHI, July 4 (Reuters) – Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will hold an online summit hosted by India on Tuesday to expand the influence of the Eurasian group by including Iran and open a path for membership of Belarus.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will take part in the virtual summit, which will be Putin’s first appearance at an international event since he crushed a mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group in late June.
Formed in 2001 by China and Russia, with former Soviet Central Asian states as members and later joined by India and Pakistan, the eight-member SCO is a security and political group seeking to counter Western influence in Eurasia.
While Iran is expected to be accepted as a member, Belarus will sign a memorandum of obligations leading to membership later. When both countries, which have observer status and enjoy close ties to Moscow, are accepted as members of the SCO, it will expand the western flank of the grouping in both Europe and Asia.
The summit comes just two weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was received by US President Joe Biden for a state visit, with the two countries calling themselves “among the most close to the world”.
India, which holds the SCO and G20 chairmanship this year, has walked a diplomatic tightrope as relations between Western nations and a Russia-China partnership have been strained by the US invasion of Ukraine. Moscow last year, and Beijing’s growing assertive presence in the world. geopolitical theater.
putin talked to Modi in a call last week to discuss the consequences of the put down mercenary mutiny. During the discussion, Modi reiterated a call for dialogue and diplomacy regarding the war in Ukraine.
Last year, on the sidelines of the summit in Uzbekistan, Modi told Putin that this is not the age of war, that it is the closest India has come to addressing the war directly with the Russian leader.
RUSSIAN OIL
Both Putin and Xi are expected to visit New Delhi in September as India hosts the G20 summit, where Biden and the leaders of other member nations are also likely to be present.
India has refused to blame Russia for the war and has greatly increased bilateral trade by pushing Russian oil purchases to a record level, angering several Western capitals.
At Tuesday’s summit, Modi will also share the virtual stage with Xi for the first time since November, when the two leaders were present at the G20 summit in Indonesia.
The relationship between the two nuclear-armed Asian giants has been icy for more than three years as they are engaged in an ongoing standoff on their Himalayan border.
It will also bring Modi face-to-face with his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif, 10 months after the two attended the SCO summit in Uzbekistan.
New Delhi announced last month that the summit will be held virtually, without giving any justification. India will hand over the bloc’s presidency to Kazakhstan at the summit.
SCO member nations are expected to discuss Afghanistan, terrorism, regional security, climate change and digital inclusion, among other topics.
Foreign ministers from SCO members met in India’s coastal resort state of Goa in May, ending up as old rivals. India and Pakistan attacking each other on Kashmir, terrorism and the deterioration of bilateral relations.
Reporting by Krishn Kaushik in New Delhi, Editing by William Maclean
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.